I'm A Givin' Out A 5 To Counter Some Complacent Ass "Dead Heads". Recorded Outside In 1969 By Bear Transferred By The Legendary Tom Banjo. Think For A Moment In These Superficial Times, Of The Pedigree Of This Recording.Even With It's Imperfections. We Are Blessed To Be Able To Listen To It Today And Let This Wonderful Performance Soak Through The Bilge That Is The Events Of The World Today. Dark Star Cleanses,St. Stephen Rinses And The Eleven Power Washes Away The Issues Of The Day. A Poem For "Our President": "Beggars On Foot, Princes And Queens Who Ride In Skull And Bone Land Saunter Side By Side." (From An Etching Signed, Max Bachman~1904) For Always Grateful.

Good HTH, standard good show

long version for the period. Interesting jam. As others have noted TC is very high in the mix throughout the show. The best Hard to handles were those 71 versions where they build the jam and the sharp guitar cut back into the vocals. They actually did that starting in late 69 definitely by 1970 but the killer ones are from 71, Fillmore east 4/71, Hollywood 8/71(which happens to be the last). There are numerous great ones from early 71 but those stand out.

this one is interesting and long for the period

hard to handle was good

If you try, sometimes you get what you need...

Okay, man if you can get past the hiss, and some rehearsing on Casey Jones & Easy Wind, by the time you get to Dark Star, the DEAD know where they are and what they are doing.

Classic 1969 Pigpen. 27 minutes and 9 seconds long, Turn On Your Love Light doesn't disappoint. It's so nice to hear Pigpen again!

Don't count this one out, just be thankful we can hear summer of 69, maybe someday kids will be downloading "entire" live shows of their favorite bands with video too, or 3d holograms of the band on stage, heck for all I know they are already doing it...

3 stars for rehearsing, 4 stars for audio quality, 5 stars for Pigpen.

I'm giving this show 5 stars for Dark Star, and Turn On Your Love Light...The audio is really quite good (for 1969) when the band is playing at the right levels. Around 24 minutes and 30 seconds into TOYLL, the audio switches to mono. Oops! uh what, happened man? "And We Bid You Good Night" continues in mono too.

Eat, drink, be merry and listen to the GRATEFUL DEAD.

Thanks for the Love (Light, mine's still on.)

"all I need is some of your love", Pigpen.

you want dead here it is!!! with sparks flying in the summer heat!!! a real sizzle treat !!!!!!!!:) enjoy !!!!

The Dark Star here is awesome. One must get this if only for this tune. TC just rocks out on organ...i'm a big fan of the 68-70 era dead, you see.

With the organ high in the mix all the way through, it is an ideal opportunity to study the contrasting styles of Pig and TC, and what each adds to the group sound. Easy Wind (the second performance of this song) features Pig on organ (I'm sure it cannot be TC), his funky groove foreshadowing the 70s, not too complex but fun and danceable. He's also enjoying singing the puns about ballin' his jackhammer so much he risks breaking his back. ;)
In another dimension entirely (that of DS), TC's organ explores the spaces left by Jerry and Phil, delicately dancing down winding alleyways of possibility in a laid-back group performance. After the tape flip that loses us the first verse, we enter almost immediately into a very spacy, almost ambient improvisation, and here TC's psychedelic skills are clearly evident. The second half makes this one of the best Dark Stars of '69, or at least of the second half of the year. The climax is wonderful.
Other highlights: *great* Hard to Handle (for the time), rockin' SS>WTB>11, fun LL with Pig really challenging his audience, and even dragging someone up on stage, and a sweet WBYGN.
But who is the guest vocalist late in LL? Surely not the person Pig dragged up?

I checked this one with a guitar tuner, and it is pitched up a half step. It is still a good performance, in a cool location......

The "Dark Star" is a standard, rote version right up to the middle and then it takes a beautiful right turn into something special, spacey, and pensive. Everyone listening, everyone choosing their notes carefully, no crowding. Tom Constanten added such a terrific dimension to the band.

poor poor sound quality... full of hiss and low volume... setlist looks ok though... hence 2 stars instead of 1

Picky McPickerson

Tc is really up in the mix, which is rare for this time period. This is a special show, check out the blistering lovelight, and tcs playing on the first set songs.